How to Challenge Decisions of the Independent Football Regulator

The introduction of the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) marks a transformative development in the governance of professional football in England and Wales under the Football Governance Act 2025 (the “Act”).

Established to strengthen financial sustainability, protect the heritage of clubs, and improve transparency across the game, the IFR has been granted wide-ranging statutory powers. It can issue, suspend, and revoke operating licences; assess the suitability of club owners and officers; and impose orders prohibiting certain competitions and ownership structures.

Given the potential impact of such powers, it is essential that clubs and individuals affected by IFR decisions understand the mechanisms available to challenge its decisions. This article outlines the dual routes of challenge set out in the Act: internal reviews by the IFR and (external) appeals to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (the “CAT”).

 

Internal Reviews by the IFR

The first route to challenge an IFR decision is an internal review by the IFR Board or its Expert Panel.

 

Who can challenge what IFR decisions?

An internal review is available to a “concerned person” in respect of a “reviewable decision” of the IFR.

A “concerned person” is defined in the Act as someone – whether a natural or legal person – who appears to the IFR to be directly affected by the decision.

A “reviewable decision” refers to one of the 31 types of decision listed in Schedule 10 of the Act. These includes decisions to:

• Refuse or revoke a provisional operating licence;
• Suspend or revoke an operating licence;
• Attach or vary a condition on an operating licence;
• Prohibit certain competitions;
• Disqualify or remove someone from being an owner/officer of a club;
• Impose a financial penalty for failing to comply with an information requirement.

 

Who conducts the review?

The internal review will be conducted by either the IFR Board or a committee of its Expert Panel.

The body responsible for the review depends on the nature of the decision under challenge (as set out in Schedule 10 of the Act). Generally, more serious decisions are to be reviewed by the IFR Board, whilst reviews of more technical decisions sit with the Expert Panel.

 

What does an internal review involve?

The Act provides that the nature and extent of the internal review will be determined by the applicable reviewer. The scope of an internal review is therefore unclear, at this stage, and may well evolve as the regime beds in. However, the concerned person will have the opportunity to make representations to the reviewer.

 

Possible outcomes

The reviewer may decide to uphold, vary or cancel the IFR decision under challenge. The reviewer must give reasons for the outcome of the review, and such outcomes will be published.

 

Timing and threshold

An internal review must be requested within seven days of the relevant IFR decision being issued.

Once an internal review has been requested by the concerned person, the first step in the process is for the IFR to decide whether or not to proceed with the review. The IFR may only decline to carry out the review of a reviewable decision if:

• The decision is already the subject of an appeal to the CAT;
• The request for a review is vexatious; or
• There is no reasonable prospect of a review changing the decision.

Whilst this appears to set a relatively low bar, the “no reasonable prospect” criterion allows the IFR some discretion in controlling the availability of the review process.

The IFR must inform each concerned person of its decision to conduct a review, and it then has 28 days to carry out the review and communicate the (reasoned) outcome. In “special” cases, the IFR may extend this deadline by a further 14 days.

Importantly, a request for an internal review does not automatically suspend the effect of the reviewable decision. However, the reviewer may grant such a suspension in some (but not all) cases.

 

Costs

The Act is silent on costs but it does allow the IFR to create rules providing for costs incurred by the IFR in performing a review to be payable by the person who has requested the review where the reviewable decision is upheld. Such rules may thus emerge over time.

 

External Appeals to the Competition Appeal Tribunal

The CAT serves as the external judicial forum for appeals against IFR decisions.

The CAT is a specialist judicial body, established under the Enterprise Act 2002, with cross-disciplinary expertise in law, economics, business and accountancy whose function is to hear and decide cases involving competition or economic regulatory issues delegated to it by statute.

Given the CAT’s cross-disciplinary expertise and the nature of the IFR’s work, it seems an appropriate judicial forum for IFR appeals, although it does not have football-specific expertise, which may lead to some unfamiliarity with its unique commercial and cultural dynamics.

 

Direct appeals to the CAT

Appeals against decisions of the IFR may be brought to the CAT either directly, in respect of certain decisions, or following an internal review.

The following (reviewable) decisions can be appealed directly to the CAT, without the need for any prior internal review:

• Revocation or suspension of an operating licence;
• Determination that a person is not suitable to be an owner or officer of a regulated club; and
• Disqualification of a person from being an owner or officer of a regulated club.

In respect of other reviewable decisions, an internal review must be requested first.

If an internal review is requested, an appeal may not be brought to the CAT until the internal review has concluded.

 

Standard of review before the CAT

Direct appeals to the CAT in respect of the specific matters listed above – or appeals against the outcome of an internal review in respect of the same subject matter – will be determined “on the merits”. In other words, the CAT may reconsider and re-make the IFR’s decision entirely.

For other appeals – i.e., appeals against the outcome of an internal review other than in relation to the specific matters listed above – the CAT will apply the same principles as would be applied by the High Court in determining proceedings on judicial review. Such appeals will thus be more limited, focusing on whether the IFR followed the correct legal process rather than whether the decision itself was right or wrong.

In summary, this means the CAT will only intervene with most IFR decisions where the decision is:

• illegal (i.e., where the IFR has made an error of law, failed to comply with the ECHR, acted ultra vires or acted for an improper purpose);
• irrational (i.e., where the decision is so unreasonable that no reasonably body could have made it);
• procedurally unfair (i.e., where the decision violates the principles of natural justice); or
• contrary to legitimate expectations.

In such judicial review-style appeals, the CAT may quash the whole or part of an IFR decision and may remit the matter to the IFR for a new decision.

 

Who can appeal to the CAT?

Whereas internal reviews can only be requested by “a concerned person” (i.e., a person directly affected by an IFR decision), an appeal to the CAT can be brought by “a concerned person, or any other person with a sufficient interest” (emphasis added).

Accordingly, the category of persons who may appeal to the CAT is broader.

Notably, the “sufficient interest” test is the same as that which applies to applications for judicial review in the High Court. In that context, the concept of “sufficient interest” has been interpreted flexibly, and it may be sufficient for a person to have a direct, personal interest in the matter, or a less direct, general / public interest in the matter in order to have standing.

This raises the prospect that even those who are not subject to the IFR’s jurisdiction – including players, fans or their associations – could bring appeals before the CAT. Whilst this may empower those whom the Act has been designed to protect, it may create additional complexity in high-profile cases.

 

Procedure before the CAT

Proceedings before the CAT are governed by the Competition Appeal Tribunal Rules 2015.

Key aspects of the procedure include:

• Time limit: Appeals to the CAT must be commenced by filing a notice of appeal within two months of notification / publication of the challenged decision.
• Notice of appeal: The notice of appeal must contain a summary of the grounds of appeal, succinct arguments supporting each of the grounds of appeal, the relief sought and (annexed) copies of all evidence on which the appellant relies. 
• Effect of appeal: Lodging an appeal with the CAT does not suspend the effect of the IFR’s decision unless the CAT specifically orders a stay, which it may do, albeit not in all cases.
• Public hearings: All CAT hearings will ordinarily be held in public (although documents filed with the CAT are not available for public inspection).
• Costs: There is no rule that the unsuccessful party pays the successful party’s costs, but the CAT has a broad discretion to award parties’ costs and generally awards costs to the successful party (at least to some extent).

 

Further appeals

A decision of the CAT may be further appealed to the Court of Appeal, but only on a point of law.

Of course, Court of Appeal decisions may then be appealed to the Supreme Court.

Thus, whilst the scope for further challenges is limited to points of law, the Act opens the door to football disputes reaching the very highest courts of the land.

 

Judicial review

In respect of IFR decisions which cannot be challenged via the internal review or CAT appeal process (for example, in respect of the duty to pay a levy), it may be possible to bring a legal challenge by way of an application for judicial review in the High Court.

Whilst the grounds for judicial review are limited, as noted above, this may nevertheless provide an important means by which to hold the IFR accountable, outside of its statutory framework.

 

Concluding thoughts

The framework for challenging decisions of the IFR is structured to maintain both regulatory autonomy and legal accountability. The internal review process offers a mechanism for reassessment, while the external appeal route through the CAT provides an important check on the most significant regulatory decisions — particularly where licences or personal freedoms are at stake.

However, clubs and individuals should be aware of the statutory restrictions on their ability to bring legal challenges, the short deadline for requesting an internal review (which may be a necessary first step in order to reach the CAT), and the differing standards of review that apply depending on the nature of the decision under challenge.

Prompt legal advice will thus be essential when considering a challenge to an IFR decision.

 

Authored by 

Donna Bartley
Partner

and

Ben Cisneros
Associate